Machines are known for the automatic mixing of dough on an industrial scale and for thereafter shaping the dough to form the desired consumer products. This conventional equipment, however, does not readily lend itself to use in an individual household even when reduced in size and dough-handling capacity. Thus, for example, the usual type of agitator rotatably mounted in a mixing vessel tends to accumulate incrustations of dough around its shaft carrying stirring elements such as paddles or blades; in large-scale operation, these incrustations can be disregarded, whereas in a private kitchen they use up significent portions of the available flour and other ingredients. Moreover, the retarding effect of such incrustations may be an impediment to proper operation of an agitator driven by a low-power motor.